Good Things Grow in Compost

If you've ever started a new garden in the Alabama clay soil, you know what it means to amend soil. Last year we didn't worry about amending the little garden we started in an area of the backyard that had served as an herb garden because the soil seemed decent enough. This year, we doubled the size of the bed, which necessitated bringing in more dirt in the form of mushroom compost, peat moss, and top soil.

We also decided to start a compost bin to reduce the waste we put into the landfill and to have a source of rich soil we can add each year to the garden. Using some old wooden pallets Anthony found, we built a pretty primitive compost bin, and we've been adding egg shells, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and leaves. The other day, I walked out to the compost pile to empty a container of kitchen scraps, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but lots of little green seedlings. The organic butternut squash guts that I threw into the pile weeks ago germinated!

Of course, this is the wrong phase of the moon to plant them. I can either take a chance and plant them now (the waning moon and the time for root crops) or wait until Saturday. They appear to be doing quite well in their temporary bed, but we're not adding to the compost pile or able to turn it while they "rest" there. All sources about composting will say that turning is important to speed decomposition. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service says that a well managed compost pile will decompose in two to four months whereas a poorly tended one will take about a year to decompose. The link above will provide some basic information about composting. Food scraps that don't include meat or fats, grass clippings, leaves, and paper (avoid paper with colored inks and petroleum-based inks) are all good compostable materials.

The benefits of compost are many. Not only do you reduce the amount of garbage you add to the landfill, but compost helps poor soils become more arable. If you are trying to grow food without the use of pesticides and commercial fertilizers, compost is one step in achieving that goal. Mother Earth News magazine's April/May 2011 issue may provide some incentive to begin composting with its article about killer compost. Follow the link to read the entire on-line article.

The article begins with a warning: "Do not bring compost into your garden from outside sources unless you're certain it was made from herbicide-free materials." The article focuses on one particular type of aminopyralid herbicide from Dow AgroSciences known as Milestone and related herbicides sold under the brands Confront, Curtail, Forefront, Hornet, Lontrel, Millenium Ultra, Reclaim, Stinger and Transline. Reports of crop poisonings related to this herbicide come from Montana, North Carolina, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Googling the herbicide, I saw links to reports of problems in the UK as well, and it is evidently used in forestry applications. The thought is that this poison made its way into compost via manure and persists in soil for years rather than weeks as Dow claims.

Mother Earth News suggests contacting Dan Kenny of the EPA's Technical Review Branch at 703.305.7546 or at kenny.dan@epa.gov to voice your concern and to ask the EPA to take action on this problem. According to Mother Earth, the EPA granted conditional approval of Milestone in 2005 despite inconsistencies in Dow's Environmental Fate and Ecological Risk Assessment report.

Though I haven't yet seen an article naming this problem in Alabama, I did find an ACES release listing aminopyralid herbicides for controlling thistle weed on pasture land, so I suspect it may be a problem in our state as well. Sounds like a good reason to start your own compost bin!